People throw turnips at the Jarramplas as he makes his way through the streets beating his drum during the Jarramplas Festival in Piornal, Spain, Jan. 20, 2014. Jarramplas is a character that wears a costume made from colorful strips of fabric, and a devil-like mask and beats a drum through the streets of Piornal while residents throw turnips as a punishment for stealing cattle. The exact origin of the festival are not known, various theories exist from the mythological punishment of Caco by Hercules, to a cattle thief ridiculed and expelled by his neighbors.

Time looks back over the past month to present a selection of underreported, improbable and astounding images that caught the attention of our photo editors. From skiing with a duck and throwing turnips at the devil to Niagara Falls freezing over and a pair of conjoined whales beaching in Baja, each photograph, we trust, maintains it’s ability to utterly, thoroughly surprise.